en.Wedoany.com Reported - On July 20 local time, Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan presided over the groundbreaking ceremony for Lot 6 of the Central Line Standard Gauge Railway in the Kigoma region, marking the official start of construction on the Tabora-Kigoma railway. This section, undertaken by the China Railway Construction Corporation (CRCC)-China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) joint venture, spans a total length of 506 kilometers, including the main line from Tabora to Kigoma and the Uvinza-Msongati branch line, and is scheduled for completion by 2030. As a core backbone project of the East African Central Corridor, this Central Line Standard Gauge Railway is also a landmark livelihood infrastructure project under the high-quality Belt and Road Initiative.
At the launch ceremony, President Hassan noted that transportation and logistics infrastructure construction is a key area driving national economic development, and the government will continue to advance major projects such as railways and ports. She emphasized that once the section undertaken by Chinese enterprises is operational, it will significantly reduce regional passenger and freight transportation costs, drive the coordinated development of industries such as agriculture, fisheries, commerce, and tourism along the route, and inject momentum into East African regional economic integration.
In December 2022, the Director General of the Tanzania Railway Corporation signed the contract for Lot 6 of the Central Line Standard Gauge Railway with representatives of the CRCC-CCECC joint venture. This section connects Tabora and Kigoma in Tanzania, with complex geological conditions along the route. It spans a total length of 506 kilometers, comprising 411 kilometers of main line and 95 kilometers of siding, with a contract value of $2.743 billion (including taxes). The scope of work covers all professional aspects, including subgrade, bridges, tracks, and stations.
The CRCC-CCECC joint venture is also undertaking Lot 5 of the Central Line Standard Gauge Railway, which connects the northern hub of Isaka to Tanzania's second-largest city, Mwanza, with a main line length of 237 kilometers. This section will enable combined rail-water transport with Lake Victoria, the world's second-largest freshwater lake, significantly enhancing local transportation capacity. To date, the mileage of the Central Line undertaken by the joint venture covers both the northern and western directions of Tanzania.
Kigoma, connected by Lot 6, is located in western Tanzania on the eastern shore of Lake Tanganyika, serving as a key node to neighboring countries such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Burundi. Once the railway is completed, the connection between Kigoma and the port of Dar es Salaam will be strengthened, and the convenience of transporting goods from the western region to the port by rail will also be improved, providing new infrastructure support for regional trade transportation.
In the long term, the Central Line Standard Gauge Railway will become an economic corridor connecting Tanzanian ports with cities in neighboring countries, opening a railway passage to the Indian Ocean for countries such as Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, and the DRC. This will play a significant role in promoting connectivity among East African regional countries and the economic and social development of nations along the route.
